1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer hardware and relates more particularly to a connector for coupling a stand-alone graphics module to a computing device.
2. Description of the Background Art
Contemporary computing devices typically incorporate a graphics card that enables a computing device to rapidly process graphics related data for graphics intensive applications, such as gaming applications. A graphics card generally comprises a printed circuit board (PCB) upon which a plurality of circuit components (such as memory chips and the like) and a graphics processing unit (GPU) are mounted. In “closed platform” computing devices such as laptop computers, cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) (i.e., devices that use processors and are not easily changed by a user), the graphics card is mounted directly and permanently to the motherboard of the computing device.
One drawback to mounting the graphics card directly to the motherboard is that this fixed configuration impedes a user's ability to upgrade the computing device's graphics system. Specifically, in order to take advantage of an improved graphics system, the user typically must purchase an entirely new computing device, which is much more costly than a simple replacement of the graphics system in the existing computing device.
A second drawback is that the pace of graphics innovations that can be conveniently delivered to computing device users is hindered, because the implementation of on-board devices is typically limited by a design cycle of approximately nine to twelve months and because of the form factor power delivery, thermal management and physical size.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for routing graphics processing signals to a stand-alone module.